The New York Times' Kirkpatrick was offering deserved praise to Ned Parker.

We've applauded Ned Parker and will again to be sure. Timothy Arango is another one who contributes strong reporting.

There are people we won't applaud. But we'd still include them if they had anything to say.

So I waste a great deal of time every day reviewing crap by the likes of Bill Moyers thinking they might have something worthy to share. They don't. They use Iraq for partisan purposes. So they focus on 2002 and 2003 because it's so much simpler if the story of Iraq -- a populated country -- can be reduced to: "Bully Boy bad."

BBB -- where's the third B?

We're not saying his name.

He's got a book to promote and a lot of people are working overtime to help him.

Want to be sure he doesn't get another big publishing deal?

Ensure the book flops.

If it flops, he might have to get honest about Iraq or he might have to crawl back under his rock.

But, look, there's Media Matters' analyzing what he said on Face The Nation!

With efforts underway across Syria and Iraq to prepare displaced
populations for the coming winter, UNHCR is increasingly concerned by a
US$58.45 million funding shortfall that – coupled with this year's sharp recent growth in internal displacement – could leave as many as a million people without proper help.The shortfall affects our winter preparedness programmes, although we
have already invested $154 million on winter aid for Syrian and Iraqi
refugees and internally displaced, and means that UNHCR is having to
make some very tough choices over who to prioritize: Factors we are
considering include the elevation of refugee settlements, the
composition of the family unit (e.g. number of children and
female-headed households), family health concerns, new arrivals,
available family resources, shelter conditions and other considerations.For those we're unable to prioritize, the conditions could nonetheless be very tough.While the problem is most acute in Iraq and Syria, there are also
needs in other parts of the region. This will be the fourth winter away
from their homes for many Syrian refugees and the first for the 1.9
million Iraqis who have become internally displaced this year. Many fled
with nothing.In the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, winter has already arrived
in the higher elevations of Dohuk Governorate. Come December,
temperatures can range from +5 degrees Celsius in more temperate areas
to minus 16 degrees Celsius in the mountains. Snow and freezing
temperatures are also common in many other parts of the region.But protecting people from cold requires funds. Right now, we
estimate the overall winter shortfall for UNHCR's programme alone to be
at least $58.45 million for some 990,000 people –
mainly newly internally displaced people in Iraq and Syria (including a
gap of $27.4 million for internally displaced inside Syria, and $25
million for internally displaced in Iraq.)In Iraq, the needs are massive but funding has not kept up apace with
the new displacement. With 1.9 million internally displaced people and
225,000 refugees – and 300-500 more arriving daily in Northern Iraq from Kobane –
UNHCR is deeply concerned about its ability to meet urgent winter
needs. Approximately 800,000 people are in need of shelter assistance,
while 940,000 lack basic winter household items. With current funding,
UNHCR now expects to reach only 240,000 displaced Iraqis with winter aid
instead of the 600,000 we had planned to reach as part of an
inter-agency effort. For example, our funding gap means we cannot
provide tent insulation kits and boards for 140,000 people and 150,000
people cannot receive supplementary material like heaters and kerosene.

New and multiple displacement inside Syria – with people having to move several times inside the country in search of safety –
has fuelled an increase in the need for winter aid. Here, as part of an
inter-agency effort, we are focusing on providing relief items
including thermal blankets, winter clothing, extra plastic sheeting and
reinforcing collective and private shelters currently housing thousands
of displaced families. Priority areas for distribution of these items
are in Aleppo and northern parts of the country as they are the coldest.
UNHCR was planning to help 1.4 million people with winter but only has
enough funds to provide kits for 620,000 people through December.

Given that the Iraqi government and U.S.-led coalition created the
conditions these people are living -- by attacking their areas and often
leaving them to the mercy of the militias -- the same governments
should now step in to facilitate humanitarian access, lest history makes
their "liberation" operation look more like a pathway to a massacre.

A scale-up of immediate, direct humanitarian engagement in Iraq,
including the KRI, to ensure that the U.S. government play a much
greater role in addressing the urgent humanitarian and protection needs
of vulnerable Iraqis, including those displaced by the escalation in
hostilities in Anbar and northwestern Iraq.

Ongoing consultations with key stakeholders and monitoring
implementation of the UN’s SRP to identify assistance gaps and
protection challenges – including delays and problems with access – and
ensuring appropriate bi-lateral efforts to address those unmet needs.

A comprehensive approach to assist Iraqis displaced during
different waves of violence, including in Anbar earlier in this year and
those who have remained displaced since the war.

Support to help families and communities hosting displaced people in the KRI.

Encouragement of the KRG to allow all Iraqis fleeing violence
safety in the KRI regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or religious
background.

More robust, longer-term engagement in Iraq’s peace and development
through a continued presence of the USAID Mission and support for U.N.
work in Iraq. This should include ongoing support for good governance,
education, civil society, and conflict management programming. Many of
these critical programs could be linked to humanitarian programs
designed to help displaced individuals in Iraq.

Which if any steps did the State Dept take?

(Answer: None.)

US President Barack Obama appears to have only one answer: Bomb and bomb again.

In addition, despite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's September 13th promise to end the military's bombing of residential neighborhoods in Falluja, the bombings continue. NINA notes one family (woman, man, child) were killed in the latest bombings and seventeen more people were injured. Again, this is the Iraqi military doing the bombing -- not the Islamic State.

Falluja is in Anbar Province, it is a Sunni dominant city. Sunnis feel targeted in Iraq -- by their own government. Loveday Morris (Washington Post) notes how this issue is impacing current realities:

In a flurry of meetings in recent weeks, tribal leaders have demanded
that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi address problems of missing weapons
and lack of support as they hold out against extremists in the face of
mass detentions and executions. Hundreds of tribesmen have been summarily executed in the western province of Anbar over the past month, with hundreds more rounded up north of Baghdad.The
slayings have underscored the predicament of Sunni tribes that have
resisted Islamic State extremists, often with little help from the
central government. The killings threaten to undermine the government
strategy of mobilizing the Sunni tribes against the Islamic State in the
tribes’ areas — a key pillar in efforts to crush the militants.

“We
demand that the government does something,” said Sheik Naim al-Gaoud, a
tribal leader with the Albu Nimr. “We feel that we have been abandoned
and neglected.”

Sunnis feeling targeted is not paranoia. They are targeted. Even the Associate Press grasps that as they point out today, "The vengeance that Iraq’s Shiite militias mete out as they fight the
Islamic State group can be just as brutal as that of their sworn
sectarian enemies."

Many of the questions that were raised back in June still sit
unanswered: How long will the operations take? How will U.S. troops on
the ground to advise and assist stay out of combat operations? Will the
Iraq security forces ever be able to carry their own weight? Obama
administration officials acknowledge that the strategy is still far from
a sure thing, especially the Syria component.
For Obama, it's an evolving strategy, one that has brought the U.S. into deeper engagement each step of the way.

And while Barack clearly has no answers, neither does Iraq's Prime Minister. Reuters notes, "Iraq's Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday he intends to remove concrete
barriers from Baghdad, despite little sign of a respite from car bombs
they were designed to thwart, and give a greater role to the Interior
Ministry in securing the capital." Well, if he actually does it, that will put him ahead of Nouri al-Maliki who, shortly after becoming prime minister (in his first term), announced the walls were coming down (2006) but it would be years before even a few did.

On those walls, I'm surprised the US Congress (among others) aren't suggesting any walls taken down be moved to Camp Hurriya to help protect the Ashraf community.

There is no 'plan.'

But there is plenty of room for failure -- daily and long term. Press TV (link is text and video) reports US professor Stephen Zunes has stated, "Due to the bad reputation US forces had in Iraq during the
occupation, US forces may end up creating a backlash that could
inadvertently strengthen ISIS. [. . .] It was US policies which helped lead to the rise of ISIS originally
so it raises serious questions as to whether a return of US forces will
actually make things better."

In the US today, Veterans Day was observed. Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee and
serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (which she formerly Chaired). We'll close with this news release her office issued:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Murray Press Office

Tuesday, November 11, 2014 (202) 224-2834

Murray at Federal Way Veterans Day Ceremony: Let’s Reaffirm the Promise We’ve Made to our Nation’s Heroes

(Washington,
D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, delivered remarks at a Veterans Day
event in Federal
Way, Washington in which city officials honorarily renamed the downtown
corridor "Veterans Way" and erected a 60-foot flagpole to recognize the
service and sacrifice of local veterans.

"So as we raise our great flag
here today, and as Federal Way takes this step to rename this street to
show deep gratitude and honor to our veterans, let us all join together
in reaffirming the promise we’ve made to the men and women who answered
the call
of duty," said Senator Murray. "And let us recommit to
working each and every day, not just on the Eleventh of November, to
fulfill that promise, no matter what it takes."

Senator Murray was joined in speaking at the event by Federal Way Mayor
Jim Ferrell, King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer, Federal Way
City Councilman Bob Celski, Rich Garmong of King County Veteran’s
Program, and Tom Leonard of Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Senator Murray’s remarks as prepared:

"Thank you Mayor Ferrell for
that kind introduction. And thank you to the City of Federal Way for
inviting me to be part of this most important day of remembrance and
reflection.

"I am so proud to represent a state that is willing to do whatever it
takes to support our men and women in uniform, who are also our
neighbors, family, and friends. I’m proud to represent this state at
what I believe has been really a critical decade in the
treatment of our nation’s veterans. It’s a time when our older veterans
population are increasingly relying on VA care. But it is also a
pivotal point for an entire generation of post 9/11 veterans who after
more than a decade of repeated deployments, stress
on their family and personal relationships, and coping with the visible
and invisible wounds of war, have been facing a challenging transition
home. And it’s a challenge that all of us have been tasked with meeting.

"As you know, it’s no secret that back in the 'other Washington' there
are some serious differences when it comes to many of the policies
impacting our families most. But one issue that brings this country
together—one area that there truly should never be
a partisan divide on—is supporting our nation’s heroes.It
brings us together because the American people understand that we have
all made a promise to those who have signed up to serve. And we owe it
to them to deliver. It’s a promise I have fought
to keep as the daughter of a World War II veteran. A promise I know so
many of you have openly embraced.

"And as we usher in a new Congress next year, it will be more important
than ever that we continue working together – across party lines – to
put our veterans and their families first because we are nearing the end
of a conflict that tested us as a nation,
but one that also showed the courage and strength of our veterans.
These are the moments that in the past we have responded to well – such
as in the era that built the greatest generation. And ones where, sadly,
our nation has stumbled.

"We are at a defining moment in the history of how we treat our
veterans. For many of us - particularly those who grew up with the
Vietnam War - it’s clear we stand perilously close to repeating some of
the same mistakes of the past. But I am working every
day to avoid that.

"The bipartisan VA reforms Congress passed in August are already helping
to alleviate the long waits for care at VA hospitals across the
country. These reforms, and the changes being made here in the Puget
Sound, are important steps toward addressing the many
issues we know exist within the VA system -- but they cannot be the
final steps. There are still many other serious challenges we must work
together to address – both Democrats and Republicans -- on behalf of our
nation’s heroes.

"Twenty-two veterans still take their own lives each day. Thousands of
veterans are alone, coping with sexual assault. And while the VA has
made commendable progress, it will be an uphill battle as we work to
eliminate veterans homelessness and the claims backlog.
But like all of you here today, I believe that when it comes to caring
for our nation’s heroes, we cannot accept anything less than excellence.

"So as we raise our great flag here today—and as Federal Way takes this
step to rename this street to show deep gratitude and honor to our
veterans -- let us all join together in reaffirming the promise we’ve
made to the men and women who answered the call
of duty. And let us recommit to working each and every day – not just
on the Eleventh of November – to fulfill that promise, no matter what it
takes. So I am proud to be your partner in that fight in the U.S.
Senate. And I am so grateful for the unwavering
support this community has provided.

"So once again, I’d like to thank Mayor Ferrell and the City of Federal Way. I am honored to be here with you today."

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.